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PDFSenator Ted Cruz was attempting to filibuster against removing the required 60% vote to approve the new trillion dollar plus increase in US debt and give President Obama an unrestrained blank check over the next year. A simple majority vote insured passage of the bill, a required 60% approval would have most likely kept the bill from passing.
Senators Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn strode to the podium and, it is said, "forcefully" voted against Senator Cruz's filibuster, thus providing for the simple majority vote. And the passage of the bill.
Why would they do this?
Well some would say they were voting their conscience. They really believed in what they did.
Really?
Look at this.
The Austin American-Statesman quoted senator Cornyn, "I think it would have been bad for the economy, bad for the American people and I don't think it would have been good politics either."
Cruz, to his credit, was trying to do what he promised his constituents he would do once he went to Washington. He was trying to force Congress to stop borrowing money from China or wherever without putting in place spending cuts.
Many other Republican candidates made the same promise.
Why would McConnell and Cornyn undermine Cruz's effort if they really were trying to curb this administration's out of control spending?
It is apparent McConnell and Cornyn are not motivated by principle or conviction. Their constituents did not want the debt ceiling raised, but McConnell and Cornyn did so they threw Cruz under the bus, creating a situation where the bill was certain to pass so they could vote against it while it passed into law.
Good politics?
Instead of either voting their conviction that the debt ceiling should in fact be raised or not raised, they rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic so the Democrats could do it without them.
Surely not. There must be more to it than that.
A couple of days after the political maneuver, Senator Cornyn put out this press release:
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) issued the following statement after voting against raising the debt ceiling.The senator's words "and I don't think it would have been very good politics either" come to mind.
“After five years of out-of-control White House spending, including a jobless, trillion-dollar stimulus, now is hardly the time to give the President carte blanche to continue his spending spree. I voted against raising the debt ceiling because we need sensible reforms to cut down on spending and restrain Washington going forward.”
So do the words of Thomas Jefferson; "One man with courage is a majority."
John Quincy Adams said, "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
Standing by what is right---and voting for what is right, requires courage and convictions.
I'm also reminded of a young Hebrew who had the courage to stand for his convictions, and in doing so he influenced the highest political authority in the land and caused that authority to claim that the young man's God was indeed the true and living God.
I'll be talking more about this on the radio this morning at 9 AM PST. Here is how you can join me from anywhere in the world.
Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Informed. Be Courageous. Be Prayerful. Be Pro-Active. Be Blessed.